Capturing Frost
by Lobo C. Martin
Summary: Jack has kept the other Guardians at arms length since the battle with Pitch. Now Jack regrets his decision to do so when Pitch returns with a new but familiar face.
1. Jack's Dilema

**Capturing Frost**

Jack felt the disturbance in Burgess long before he was even over the Atlantic. Jack knew that as Burgess was his home he could feel whenever another immortal passed through the area. Jack asked the wind to make him go faster; something about the tingle that Jack normally felt was off. Within minutes Jack was at his pond, he looked around trying to figure out where the other immortal was. Most of the immortals just passed through barely staying long enough to even register on Jack's radar. This one was different they had lingered far longer than any other with the exception of the battle with Pitch Black. Jack felt the tingle coming close behind him but before he could turn around his world went black.

_He was drowning. He tried to breath and got a lungful of icy water as a result. He flailed his arms, searching for a handhold that was just out of his reach. He could hear his sister as though through a tunnel. She was screaming his name at the top of her lungs. He opened his eyes against the cold water. He screamed out his last lungful of air as he saw his sister fall through the ice above him. He had tried to save her but he had failed…_

Jack jerked awake screaming. His screaming was accompanied by the sound of rattling chains and caused the floor beneath him to sway.

"Ah, Jack, how nice of you to join us," the voice that spoke was familiar and it took Jack a second to place it.

"Pitch," Jack said as he tried to figure out where he was even though he was still slightly woozy from the nightmare sand that Pitch had hit him with.

"It's good to know that you remember me, though I don't think you really could forget me as that lovely nightmare that you just had can attest to." Pitch smiled from the shadows as he looked into the cage that contained the winter sprite. "How are you doing on making the children believe in you Jack?"

Jack growled as he shook his head trying to clear the fog from his head. "Better than it is for you I'm sure."

Pitch snarled. "That is where you are wrong Jackie Boy. Now that I have you my fear will spread through the world and there is nothing that the other Guardians can do about it. Do you want to know why Jack? Because they will have no idea where you are, and they will think that you are helping me."

"I would never help you," Jack said as he struggled to stand up, hindered by the fact that his arms were chained behind him and to the floor of the hanging cage that he finally realized he was in.

"Oh, I know that you would never help me Jack. You proved that when you denied me in Antarctica. But your fellow Guardians have no idea that you wouldn't. So I am using a power that I have not used in years. What do you think?" Pitch said with a cold laugh as he stepped out of the shadows.

Jack's mouth became dry as he stared at Pitch, or rather who he thought was Pitch. It was as though Jack were staring into a mirror. Pitch somehow looked just like him Pitch held Jack's staff in his hand and had an evil smirk on his face. Jack tried to swallow as he looked at his doppelganger there was only one small difference between the two of them and that was the fact that the eyes were black and not and ice blue like Jack's eyes were. Jack had the feeling that it wouldn't matter because no one would get close enough to his double to be able to tell the difference.

"Impressive don't you think?" Pitch said. "I can also use your powers for a short time as well. By the way I wouldn't try to break out if I were you. Since I am using your powers it would be a long drop out of that cage even if by some miracle you got out of those shackles. I hope your comfortable Jack because I don't think I will be back for quite some time." With that parting shot Pitch walked away laughing.

Jack struggled against the chains that held him to the floor of the cage. It was no use and he knew it. Jack slumped down to the bottom of the cage and hung his head. He knew that the other guardians would believe that whatever Pitch did disguised as Jack was all Jack's doing. They didn't know him well enough to know that he would never intentionally hurt a child, or cause a child to fear him or anything around them.

It had been only six months since he had become a guardian and in that time he had made no effort to get to know the other guardians better. Jack had been standoffish and distant from the others just like he had been for the last three hundred years of his life. When one of the others, normally Sandy or Tooth, tried to get closer to him Jack had pushed them away not wanting to get in to deep only to be burned. Jack had tried to befriend other sprites and spirits in his three hundred years of life and each time had ended in disaster, so Jack had decided that he would do his duty as a guardian and nothing more. He didn't want to get close to the others because he was afraid.

Now see where that fear had landed him. The other guardians would not know that Pitch was back until Pitch had destroyed Jack's reputation and made the children fear again. This would be all Jack's fault and there would be nowhere Jack could hide if he ever got out of this cage. Jack screamed out his frustration and lunged against the chains that held him to the floor of the cage. The only result was the cage's swaying and pain in his arms. Jack collapsed back down to the floor of the cage and finally looked at what was outside the cage.

Jack found that he was not in the main area of Pitch's cavern as he thought he would be. Instead he was in a darker part of the cavern he was also in the only cage that was hanging from the ceiling in this part of the cavern. Jack examined the cage that he was contained in. This cage was similar in design to the ones that the Baby Teeth had been confined in during Pitch's first uprising. The difference being that there was not net like fencing around the cage instead there was bars that made it look like a giant bird cage.

Jack sighed as he once again tugged uselessly against the chains that held him. He tried to draw on his winter powers but found that they did not respond beyond a slight movement in his veins. Jack now knew that he at least still had some of his powers, but they were so weak at the moment that there was no way that they would be of any help to him. Jack bowed his head and closed his eyes wishing that when he opened them again that this had all just been a nightmare and that it wasn't real. Jack swayed forward and felt the now painful tug of the chains against his wrists, that was when he knew for certain this wasn't a dream. The world was going to be plunged back into the Dark Ages and it was entirely his fault.


	2. North

The guardians were gathering at North's workshop for a meeting, there was one of the guardians missing from the meeting however and that was the youngest of the group, Jack Frost. They all felt bad about excluding their youngest member, but when the meeting was about him they had decided that he shouldn't be present for it.

North had called the meeting with the other guardians because he was worried about how Jack Frost was getting along, or as the case was not getting along with the other guardians. North had dispatched both Sandy and Tooth to try and befriend Jack, both of them had come back saying, or in Sandy's case signing, that Jack had refused their friendship. Both had said that Jack had mentioned that he had no one but himself and the wind for three hundred years, and that was just the way it was going to remain.

In a way North blamed himself for the way that Jack was standoffish to all of his fellow guardians. He had always known about Jack Frost, the reason being that Jack had died and become a guardian while he was still a child. North shook his head he didn't understand, and never really had understood, why MiM would make a sprite out of a child. The day that North had discovered that this child was a sprite he had decided that he would make sure to take extra care of him come Christmas. The reason that North had fallen out on that promise, was that by the time the next Christmas had rolled around Jack was already on the naughty list.

After that Christmas North had just ignored the winter sprite until the yetis had started to complain about someone trying to break into the workshop. North had only paid enough attention to the yetis to tell them not to let the sprite into the workshop. Looking back now North thought that maybe he should have just allowed Jack into the workshop on occasion, but North had been too busy to even consider the lonely sprite in nothing more than passing.

After MiM had declared that Jack would be the newest guardian, North had given a passing thought to how Jack would react, but after that North had been too worried about Pitch to care if Jack would be willing to be a guardian. North had been upset on Easter when Jack had not shown up until after Easter had been ruined. He had blamed Jack for the disbelief that was spreading the world over, but then he had found the smallest nesting doll that he had given to Jack lying in the grass. North had realized in that moment that he was blaming Jack for something that Pitch had orchestrated, and by doing so he was making things worse in the long run.

North saw the arrival of the other guardians through the window of his workshop. He hoped that they would somehow be able to figure out how to get Jack closer to them.


	3. Bunny

As Bunnymund raced through his tunnels on his way to North's workshop his mind cast itself to the subject of the meeting, Jack Frost. Jack had refused any attempts that his fellow guardians had made to befriend him. North had declared now that Jack was a guardian he needed to be brought into the family that had been built by the rest of them. Bunny was, surprisingly, one of the most adamant that Jack be brought into the family.

Bunny had never liked Jack Frost before he had become a guardian, but now Bunny thought he might have a bit of an inside track as to what it was that made Jack tick. Bunny shuddered as he remembered the feeling of those kids walking right through him on Easter. Bunny now hated himself for all of the comments he had made to Jack, about not being believed in.

Bunny had hated the feeling of being walked through; he had never experienced it before that fateful Easter. He was stunned to realize that Jack had had to live with that feeling, for all of his three hundred years of life. Bunny had felt furious on that day he had blamed Jack, and then the winter sprite had disappeared only to come back and save them all, even going so far as helping bring Sandy back. After that day Bunny had felt awkward any time he was around Jack. It was that awkward feeling that had kept him from reaching out and trying to befriend Jack. Bunny hoped that his seeming rejection of the other guardian was not what was driving him away.

Bunny shook his head as he finally surfaced just outside of North's workshop. He hoped that with all of the guardians combined they could figure out a way to bring Jack into the fold. He sighed as he bounded his way up to the workshop he felt bad that Jack wasn't here, and he knew that if Jack were to find out that the other guardians were meeting without him, he would be mad.


	4. Sandy

Sandy flew in his favorite sand plane, on his way to the meeting at North's workshop. Sandy shook his head as he thought about the reason for this meeting. Jack Frost was a concern for all of the guardians. Sandy was concerned because he had known that Jack was a lonely sprite for the last three hundred years. He had never had much time to visit with the wayward sprite, but he had always tried to make sure that Jack had sweet dreams when he slept. Sandy knew that many times his sweet dreams had chased away nightmares from Jack's mind.

Sandy was still trying to piece together what had happened to his fellow guardians after he had been destroyed by Pitch's dark arrow. Sandy had put together some of the happenings by what he saw in the dreams he chased from Jack's head whenever the young sprite slept, the occasions which were rare. They were even rarer now after what the guardians went through with Pitch only six short months ago.

Since the whole fiasco with Pitch Sandy had tried to get close to Jack in hopes that Jack would open up to him. Sandy knew that of all the guardians he was the closest to Jack long before he had become a guardian. Sandy had tried to protect Jack as the years went by; he had tried to help the young sprite in any way that he could thin to. Sandy knew and had known that it was never enough. However, on the rare occasion that Jack had seen him he would always send him a smile, it didn't matter how much pain he was in the sprite's smile was always heartfelt and bright.

Sandy had seen other spirits and sprites take out their frustration on Jack just because he was the winter sprite, and they didn't like the fact that all he brought with him was the cold and frost. Sandy had tried to discourage the other immortals from hurting Jack. It didn't matter that Sandy was one of the "big four" none of the other immortals ever paid any attention to him just because he couldn't talk.

Sandy saw North's workshop come into sight. Sandy sighed; he hoped that Jack never found out about this little meeting, if he did Jack would be both hurt and mad that his fellow guardians had had a meeting, which was both about him and without him present.


	5. Tooth

**Merry Christmas! Sorry I have been unable to update this story as much as I would have. I just got my first job so life has been crazy.**

**The next few chapters after this will be Pitch's POV and then back to Jack.**

Tooth was fluttering around giving orders to her fairies just like always. She was however worried because one of her little fairies was missing. For the last six months this fairy had been more special than the other fairies. This fairy was Baby Tooth and she had been the only fairy to escape from Pitch's invasion of the Tooth Palace. She was also the only being that Jack Frost would let close to him. Tooth knew that on occasion Baby Tooth would track Jack down just to be with him, or to make sure that he was alright. Tooth liked that Baby Tooth would do that, but she still worried when she didn't know where the little fairy had gone.

Tooth glanced around and realized what time it was. Tooth knew that she was supposed to be going to a Guardian meeting at North's place; she knew that the meeting was going to be about how to bring Jack Frost into the fold of the Guardians. She was however wary because she knew that with this meeting they could completely alienate Jack permanently the reasons being, that Jack had been excluded from this meeting, and that the meeting was about him. Tooth hoped that Jack never found out about this meeting. She also hoped that if he did, he would be able to forgive them and realize that they had just done it out of concern.

Tooth sighed. She wished that Jack would open up to the rest of the guardians, and not just to Baby Tooth. With this meeting they might figure out why it was that Jack refused any offer of friendship that the guardians made. Tooth understood that they had never tried to befriend Jack before he became a guardian, but she argued to herself the guardians had all been too busy to worry about a wayward winter sprite, which seemed to cause nothing but trouble for everyone. In the back of her mind Tooth knew that they might never figure out how to properly befriend Jack, until he let them in, without their pushing him to let them in.

Tooth suddenly realized that she had lingered in her thoughts to long; she was supposed to already be at the meeting with the other Guardians. She quickly told her fairies where she was going, as she gathered several of them to go with her. She thought one last time on where Baby Tooth might be, and hoped that she was safe and with Jack, wherever he might be. With this last thought Tooth zoomed away from the Tooth Palace and in the direction of North's shop.


	6. Pitch's Power

**A/N: Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this story. My life went a little crazy after Christmas, and to top it all of I had got the bane of all writers' existence...writer's block. But the muse is back with me and I have managed to finish the chapter of which I have had a single sentence of since Christmas. I hope you like the chap!**

Pitch laughed as he left his hideout and Jack Frost in a cage. Pitch tested his newly stolen abilities with ice, and was pleased to know that he had gained all of Jack Frost's powers. Pitch had used an ability that he hadn't used in years. Pitch had been given the talent of taking on the faces and abilities of any human or spirit that had ever lived. Most of the time Pitch was unable to completely take the abilities of fellow immortals, but by having Jack Frost in a cage chained with nightmare imbedded chains made it so that Pitch could draw the power out of Frost, through the nightmare sand.

Pitch knew that by reverting back to his first ability it would make his nightmare sand weaker, but it was a risk that he was ready and willing to take. He knew that by taking on Frost's looks and powers the fear would spread faster through the world. As Pitch flew along on the wind he thought back about the many times he had used his ability to shift forms, and steal the powers of other immortals.

The first time Pitch had used his power of shifting on another immortal was the first time he realized that he could steal the power of his fellow immortals. Before, he had used his abilities only on children and those adults who were susceptible to his power of inducing fear. Pitch had always taken on the form of what the people feared most. Pitch had used his ability on a minor summer sprite, and by doing so he had started an unintentional drought by using powers he didn't know that he could steal. After that incident Pitch had tried to steal more and more power from his fellow immortals until he made the mistake of trying to steal Sandman's ability.

In the end it was this mistake that allowed him to create his nightmare sand, but at the time the Guardians were so mad that they had been able to banish him for over five hundred years. Pitch had languished in his lair for the first two hundred years, before he realized that he had retained the power of Sandman's sand. Pitch then started corrupting the power of the sand and after the next two hundred years started to experiment on the children and adults in the outside world. At first the sand had still cheered people up, but in the end Pitch's corruption of the sand won out.

Pitch had thought that he and his nightmare sand were ready to face up against the Guardians and win, but Manny had pulled a wild card when he declared Jack Frost to be a Guardian. At first Pitch had been sure of his ability to turn Jack against the Big Four, but as time preceded Jack showed more devotion towards the Guardians then Pitch had expected. Pitch had also underestimated Jack's power and determination to keep the kids of the world safe. Pitch had been truly shocked to see Jack come back with his staff in one piece. Pitch had not expected his own sand to turn against him, and since that day he had blamed Jack Frost.

The difference between the last defeat and this defeat was that Pitch had immediately started watching Jack Frost looking for a weakness that he could exploit. Pitch watched and saw the distance that Jack always maintained from the other Guardians and even from other immortals. After six months Pitch had sprung his plan knowing that none of the other Guardians knew Jack well enough to realize that he would never intentionally harm a child.


End file.
